Your great grandfathers read them by the fistful. Even your grandfathers
probably read at least a few of them. But the days when Horatio Alger
was one of the most widely read authors in America have long since passed.
Alger's message--that by dint of hard work, decent morals, good manners
and a hefty serving of luck, any American boy can rise from rags to riches--is
so clearly anathema to the literati that his dismissal by the critics and
the continuing refusal to treat his work as anything other than simple-minded
boosterism was virtually foreordained.

However, you would think that Alger's novels would warrant greater scrutiny
simply for their obvious cultural impact. It is not an overstatement
to say that it is likely that every significant man of business, politics,
literature and academia in America in the early decades of this century
had read the works of Horatio Alger. How can you hope to understand
these men and the America that they forged if you ignore the one author
who was most likely a formative influence on them? More than that,
it is certainly the case that except for a couple of decades of despair
brought on by the Great Depression, it is, has been, and seems sure to
remain, the uniquely American idea that anyone can succeed.
It is amazing the number of times you will hear folks from foreign
countries speak about how this perception of unlimited possibilities is
something that you only find in America (Howard Evans on Booknotes one
night springs to mind). This after all is why we are the one nation
that welcomes immigrants. Other countries assume that immigrants
will just get on the dole and stay there; we assume they will not only
succeed, but will flourish. Alger is certainly not the originator
of these belief, but his millions of books must have contributed something
to this entrepreneurial spirit that informs the national soul.

Besides that, they are just fun. There is something refreshing
about Alger's straightforward, unmannered writing style. The mere
absence of all of the modern stylistic devices that so often make reading
modern novels a chore, makes reading the books a pleasure. Besides,
who doesn't get a vicarious thrill reading about a good boy making good.
And, beneath the outer layers of poverty, Alger's heroes are enormously
appealing; here's his description of Richard "Ragged Dick" Hunter:

Dick's appearance as he stood beside the box was
rather peculiar. His pants were torn in several
places, and had apparently belonged in the first
instance to a boy two sizes larger than himself. He
wore a vest, all the buttons of which were gone
except two, out of which peeped a shirt which
looked as if it had been worn a month. To complete
his costume he wore a coat too long for him,
dating back, if one might judge from its general
appearance, to a remote antiquity.

Washing the face and hands is usually considered
proper in commencing the day, but Dick was
above such refinement. He had no particular dislike
to dirt, and did not think it necessary to remove
several dark streaks on his face and hands. But
in spite of his dirt and rags there was something
about Dick that was attractive. It was easy to see
that if he had been clean and well dressed he
would have been decidedly good-looking. Some of
his companions were sly, and their faces
inspired distrust; but Dick had a frank, straight-forward
manner that made him a favorite.

There is a reason that the term "Horatio Alger story" lives on in our
lexicon. The concept touches something deep within our psyche, confirming
something that we desperately want to believe about individuals and about
the type of world and society that we live in.

Let the critics ridicule them, but when we stop believing in the power
and the truth of the Alger myth, we will cease to be a great nation.